This invention relates to a device for compacting waste material and particularly to such a device for compressing or flattening cans and the like.
Modern packaging, and particularly food packaging, employs a large number of containers which retain their shape when the packaged material is removed. This results in storage and disposal problems when the packaged material is used or consumed in that the container occupies the same volume even though the packaged material is no longer contained within the container. Particularly at areas where people gather, such as parks and campgrounds, this unnecessary bulk soon fills disposal receptacles. These receptacles can hold far fewer containers than would be the case if those containers were crushed. The same is true during cartage of the containers from the collection site to the ultimate disposal site.
To ameliorate the situation described above, various container compressors, and particularly can compressors, have been proposed. These compressors have taken various forms but most typically employ two plates pivoted at or adjacent one end and movable toward each other under the urging of a lever. An example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,299,802, issued Jan. 24, 1967 to J. W. Black, Jr. for Device for Flattening Cans. The Black device employs a stationary plate and a movable plate pivoted together along the bottoms thereof. A can is placed between the plates and the movable plate urged toward the stationary plate to compress the can. However, there is no provision for removal of the crushed can which must be removed manually. In addition, the nature of the connection between the plates not only provides a crushing force but also induces a force having a tendency to urge the can out of the space between the plates. This is countered in the Black device by tooth like ridges on the inner surfaces of the plates.
Devices similar to the Black device are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,246,394, issued June 17, 1941 to J. W. Steel for Can Crushing Means and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,373,057, issued Apr. 3, 1945 to R. F. Shinn for Can Crusher. As with Black, each of these devices employ opposing plates pivoted at or adjacent the lower end of the plates with at least one plate being moved toward the other to crush the can. However, these devices overcome one shortcoming of the Black device by providing an opening along the lower portion of the plates such that the crushed material will fall through the device when the crushing pressure is relieved. They do not, however, address the problem of the tendency of the compressing force to drive the material to be compressed from the compression area. In addition, the nature of the pivotal connection between the plates places the pivot rod directly in line with the most natural ejection path for the compressed material, thereby producing a potential that the crushed material will encounter this obstruction and jam the compressor.